EtaPRO has deployed its digital monitoring, digital twin and predictive analytics platform at MGA Thermal’s 5 MWh thermal energy storage demonstration plant in New South Wales. The deployment marks the first application of EtaPRO’s platform at a thermal energy storage facility.
EtaPRO has deployed its monitoring, digital twin and predictive analytics technology at MGA Thermal’s 5 MWh thermal energy storage demonstration plant in Tomago, New South Wales, Australia. The deployment, carried out in partnership with Toshiba International Corporation, marks the first application of EtaPRO’s platform at a thermal energy storage facility.
MGA Thermal is developing long-duration thermal energy storage technology for industrial process heat, a sector that remains challenging to decarbonise because of its requirement for continuous, high-temperature energy. Its proprietary MGA Blocks store renewable electricity as latent heat through a solid-to-liquid phase change in an alloy and release the stored energy as high-temperature process heat or steam when required.
At the Tomago facility, EtaPRO has deployed three components of its technology platform. Its Archive historian consolidates and visualises operational data, while VirtualPlant creates a thermodynamic digital twin of the storage facility. EtaPRO’s advanced pattern recognition system is designed to identify operating conditions and trends that differ from expected performance.
The digital twin enables operators to analyse the facility using both historical and real-time operating data. It can also support what-if modelling, allowing different operating scenarios to be evaluated digitally and potentially reducing the need for time-consuming physical testing.
The predictive analytics capability provides an additional layer of operational intelligence by identifying unexpected trends and potential anomalies at an early stage. This can allow operators to investigate developing issues before they affect system performance while providing greater visibility into the operation of an emerging energy storage technology.
The Tomago demonstration plant has reached Technology Readiness Level 8 and is being used to demonstrate MGA Thermal’s ability to provide continuous renewable industrial heat. The facility has previously demonstrated the storage and delivery of energy as superheated steam, supporting the company’s efforts to advance the technology towards commercial-scale deployment.
The deployment comes as MGA Thermal progresses towards larger industrial applications. The company is developing a proposed 195 MWh electro-thermal energy storage project for Tronox in Western Australia, while also advancing additional front-end engineering and design studies for potential industrial customers.
For the long-duration energy storage sector, the integration of digital monitoring, performance modelling and predictive analytics could become increasingly important as emerging technologies move from demonstration facilities to commercial projects. Greater access to operational data and early fault detection can help improve reliability and provide prospective customers and investors with greater confidence in new storage technologies.
The Tomago deployment demonstrates how digital tools can support the commercialisation of thermal energy storage. As industries seek alternatives to fossil fuel-based process heat, the combination of long-duration thermal storage and advanced digital optimisation could contribute to scalable solutions for industrial decarbonisation.
